WNYT.com

Firefighters spend a Sunday battling flames in Saratoga

You could see smoke still billowing hours after fire tore through the row houses on Woodlawn Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Police say it was one of the biggest they've had in the city.

Our camera’s time lapse video captured the massive flames from a distance early Sunday morning.

“I was in the kitchen making breakfast. A guy came out naked. Girl came out screaming fire. Seen the back of the house burning, blowing up. It was crazy,” said one resident, Aone Wyche.

Wyche says she took off running. She and a couple of others jolted neighbors out of bed.

15 of the 32 residents were home at the time, no one was hurt. At one point, more than a hundred firefighters were at the scene trying to put the brakes on the flames. Officials say it started in the bottom floor and spread quickly from 102 to 108 Woodlawn.

“It is an older building, a balloon style which means there's a lot of room for the fire to go,” explains Police Lt. John Catone.

106 and 108 actually collapsed. Most of the damage was done to the back of the buildings. Brick and burned debris came crashing down on cars below. Residents say one exploded from the pressure. Police say the structure is a total loss.

Kenneth Ratcliff and Melinda Boivert say they're not sure what to do next. The couple was making plans to get married.

The Red Cross, the owner of the building, along with a church next door is helping the displaced residence.